Commissioner Georgieva: Bulgaria Stable on Euro Track

Business » FINANCE | May 9, 2010, Sunday // 14:43
Bulgaria: Commissioner Georgieva: Bulgaria Stable on Euro Track Bulgarian EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva (left) met with PM Borisov (right) and other politicians during Day of Europe events in the Southern Park in Sofia. Photo by BGNES

Even though the bar for accession to the Eurozone will probably be raised, Bulgaria has fair chances to join, Bulgarian EU Commissioner Georgieva believes.

“I expect to see the bar for admission to the Eurozone raised after the current crisis because the euro has to be protected with all possible means,” said Kristalina Georgiev during Sunday’s happening in the Southern Park in Sofia which included a men’s football match of Bulgarian politicians.

Georgieva is confident that if Bulgaria continues to maintain its macroeconomic stability and to attend to all necessary indicators for accession, its chances will to adopt the euro will improve rather than worsen. Yet, she did not dare a forecast as to when the country could start using the common European currency.

According to the Bulgarian EU Commissioner, the EC will have a clear evaluation of what Bulgaria is doing in the financial sphere within a few weeks.

“I don’t expect a strongly negative evaluation because it is clear that under the present situation all countries are facing pressure to increase their spending but Bulgaria is demonstrating relatively good discipline. Yet, an outside opinion is always useful, and can lead to suggestions that can aid the Bulgarian government to actually achieve a balanced budget by the end of the year,” she stated.

“The attitude towards Bulgaria in the EU is positive as a whole because the country is trying to demonstrate discipline even under harsh conditions so that we can be a stability factor in Europe, and can continue to enjoy the respect of our partners,” explained the Commissioner.

She rejected the fears that Bulgaria might end up in the situation of debt-stricken Greece but warned that an eye should be kept on the Greek investments in the Bulgarian financial system.

“The processes in Greece did not even affect Europe only, they affected the entire world. It is only natural that they will affect us as well, and the government is right to watch out for what is going on in our neighbor to the south,” said Kristalina Georgieva.

Her words come several days after the International Monetary Fund warned Bulgaria that foreign parent banks might drain liquidity from their subsidiaries in the country. Greek banks hold about 30% of Bulgaria’s banking system.

“Currently, the EU faces a combination of several problems – the situation in Greece, the high budget deficits in other countries, and the political instability in the UK after the elections. There is no way that speculators will resist the temptation to go against the euro. But the euro is strong. The European Central Bank is acting very conservatively – it has not even opened the big book with measures that it can take to protect the euro,” explained Georgieva, who is a former Vice-President of the World Bank.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Finance » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commisioner, Eurozone, euro adoption, euro, greece

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria